Video: State title, no fans Watch 12th-ranked Scotlandville win 4th straight Louisiana title last week.
Updated 1:30 p.m., March 21
As the gravity of the coronavirus pandemic becomes clearer, adjustments to winter high school sports championship events throughout the country were made and now spring seasons appear in peril.
Last week, four of the nation's most high-profile basketball postseason events announced plans to cancel or postpone. The Jordan Brand Classic, McDonald's All-American Games, Nike Hoop Summit and GEICO Nationals all look unlikely to take place in 2020.
The Jordan Brand Classic, Nike Hoop Summit and McDonald's All-American Games elected to cancel while GEICO Nationals is considering postponing.
"As the situation with novel coronavirus continues to evolve, GEICO Nationals will be postponed indefinitely to ensure the health and safety of student-athletes, coaches and spectators," GEICO Nationals executive director Rashid Ghazi said in a statement.
The California Interscholastic Federation announced it had canceled its 40th annual state championships that were set to be played March 13-14 in Sacramento [
Story].
The NCAA Tournament has been called off and the NBA has suspended its season after two players tested positive for the virus, so it made sense that prep basketball nationwide took drastic measures as well.
The following is a list of high school championship events that were affected by coronavirus concerns and the announcements from state governing bodies. We will continue to update as the news evolves.
Four states did power through and complete state basketball championships: Louisiana, Nebraska, New Mexico and Missouri, the latter cancelled its last two divisions. All four states played with no or limited fans.
Most if not all states have now suspended high school sports for the spring, with Kansas cancelling it completely. We will continue to monitor state-by-state throughout the spring season.
ARIZONA
* The Arizona Interscholastic Association got through basketball unscathed but has suspended spring sports indefinitely. It hasn't given up hope on playing its state spring tournaments [
Story}.
ARKANSAS
* Following the conclusion of its 2A tournament on Thursday, the Arkansas Activities Association postponed its basketball tournament Friday and Saturday
. Further it has suspended all spring activity from March 15-30 [
Story].
CALIFORNIA
• California Thursday's CIF announcement comes after a trying week in which three
basketball schools had to withdraw from the state tournament and another
was dropped, then reinstated. "It was absolutely an incredibly
difficult decision to cancel an event our student athletes have been
looking forward and working to since the start of the season," CIF
Executive Director Ron Nocetti said. "But once it went from a day-by-day
concern to hour-by-hour we felt for the health and safety of our school
communities the decision we made was the right thing to do."
[Story]. As far as spring sports, the CIF is taking a wait-and-see approach [
Story}.
COLORADO
* After the University of Denver informed the Colorado High School Activities Association that it could no long host the state's 3A tournament, the CHSAA announced the cancellation of the rest of its basketball tournament. "With uncertainty at all additional sites, including a state of emergency declaration by the City of Denver, the difficult decision has been made to cancel the remainder of all state basketball tournaments in all classes." [
Story].
No fans were permitted to attend Thursday's CHSAA Class 5A girls semifinal basketball game at the Denver Coliseum.
Photo by Lance Wendt
• Connecticut and the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference
was the first state to announce it had cut all winter sports tournaments
[Story].
ILLINOIS
• After announcing limited spectators as a remedy to its basketball championships, the ISHA decided to cancel the remainder of the boys' title games and winter sports.
[Story].
INDIANA
* Indiana (IHSAA) has postponed its boys basketball tournament due to school closures, but the girls state gymnastics state finals will be held with no spectators at Worthen Arena in Muncie [
Story].
KANSAS
* Kansas (KSHSAA) canceled the remainder of its boys and girls state basketball tournaments, then the spring season [
Story].
KENTUCKY
• In Kentucky, the Whitaker Bank/KHSAA basketball tournament has been postponed
[Story].
LOUISIANA
* The Louisiana High School Athletic Association announced on Friday (March 13) that fans will no longer be allowed to attend the boys and girls state basketball tournament [
Story]. See results from that tournament [
Story].
MARYLAND
• The MPSSAA announced a postponement of basketball tournaments Thursday [
Story].
MICHIGAN
* Michigan (MHSAA) suspended all winter events
[Story].
MINNESOTA
* The Minnesota State High School League on Friday canceled the girls
state basketball tournament and the boys section and state basketball
rounds, effective immediately [
Story].
MISSOURI
* The Missouri High School Activities Association (MSSAA) has announced limited seating to its games but has already crowned Class 1 champions. Spring sports also continuing as planned [
Story].
MONTANA
* Montana (MHSA) cancelled boys basketball tournament [
Story].
NEBRASKA
• Nebraska's NSAA announced its boys basketball championships this week would be held with limited general public in attendance. Semifinals were completed Friday and champions crowned on Saturday
[Story].
NEVADA
* The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association got through basketball unscathed but suspended all spring sports indefinitely. It is hopeful it can play its regional and state championships [
Story].
NEW HAMPSHIRE
* A day after attempting to play its championship basketball games with strict fan regulations, the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association announced "All NHIAA Tournament games are suspended until further notice"
[Story].
NEW JERSEY
• New Jersey and the NJSIAA has cancelled its basketball championships.
[Story].
NEW MEXICO
• New Mexico (NMAA) is playing basketball but without fans. It got through Thursday semifinals unscathed and on Saturday and crowned 10 champions [
Story].
NEW YORK
• The NYSPHSAA also announced Thursday it has postponed all its winter sports championships, including boys and girls basketball [
Story].
•
The New York Catholic League on Thursday morning postponed all sports.
"We've been instructed by the Superintendent of Schools of the
Archdiocese of New York to suspend all CHSAA event immediately. As of
now, this suspension includes games, scrimmages, meets, and matches."
NORTH CAROLINA
• The NCHSAA announced basketball tournaments will be postponed and all interscholastic activities suspended
[Story].
NORTH DAKOTA
* The North Dakota High School Activities Association (NDHSAA) has modified its Class A basketball schedule to help limit the attendance to its games
[Story].
OHIO
• Ohio and the OHSAA has postponed all winter championship events,
including basketball. No timetable has been set for a possible
rescheduling
[Story].
OKLAHOMA
• The OSSAA has canceled its basketball championships [
Story].
OREGON
• The OSAA announced Thursday it is canceling the remaining winter sports championships [
Story].
PENNSYLVANIA
• The PIAA has postponed its basketball championships two weeks [
Story].
RHODE ISLAND
* After an announcement from its Governor Gina Raimondo, the Rhode Island Interscholastic League (RIIL) "regrettably has canceled all remaining winter tournament games."
TEXAS
• The UIL in Texas has suspended its basketball championships in San Antonio [
Story].
Fans attending Thursday's session of the UIL Boys Basketball State Tournament at the Alamodome in San Antonio were notified on the video board that the event would be suspended.
Photo courtesy of Hoopinsider.net
* Virginia's VHSL has cancelled its basketball championships Friday and Saturday [
Story].
TENNESSEE
* The Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association suspended the rest of the girls' state basketball tournament after its second-round games on Thursday. Next week's boys state-tournament basketball games are also suspended [
story].
WISCONSIN
* The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association
announced Friday that winter tournament events scheduled for March 12-14
and March 19-21 will be canceled
[Story].
WYOMING
* Wyoming and the WHSAA has cancelled its 3A/4A basketball tournament [
Story].
NATIONAL
• GEICO Nationals, the April basketball tournament
featuring many of the country's top teams after state championships are
complete, has moved its site from New York City to
Dorman (Roebuck, S.C.) [
Story].
